1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the sport of archery and more particularly to a bow holder apparatus capable of being worn about the leg of an archer in either a standing or sitting position which can hold an archery bow at the ready until the archer is prepared to shoot.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the sport of archery, and more particularly in the sport of bow hunting, an archer must often wait for long periods of time for game to approach or until the archer is ready to shoot. During this waiting period, the archer may be standing or seated in a tree-stand or blind. It is desirable for the archer to always have his bow at the ready, but the bow can be heavy and uncomfortable to hold after a period of time. For this reason, a variety of bow holders have been developed to hold the archer's bow until he is ready to shoot.
Bow holders generally come in two basic types; those that are worn by the archer and those that are fastened to an object near at hand, such as a tree, a tree stand, or a chair. Wearable bow holders have the advantage of always keeping the bow close at hand, whereas a hunter using a bow holder attached to a tree or other stationary object may find that he has changed positions while waiting for game to approach and that his bow is out of reach at the critical instant.
Several styles of wearable bow holders have been known and used heretofore. U.S. Pat. No. 3,208,653 to R. W. Wallace discloses a bow support which comprises a strap worn about the archer's leg which has a pocket for the insertion of the tip of a recurve bow. This apparatus does help support the weight of the bow while holding it in a position approximating the shooting position, but this configuration has several disadvantages. First, this device will only accommodate the tip of a recurve bow. Compound archery bows having cams or eccentric wheels for multiplying the force applied to the bowstring are becoming more popular, and the pocket disclosed by Wallace will not admit the larger tip of a bow of this type. Secondly, the bow holder of Wallace will not completely support the bow and thereby free the archer's hands for other purposes. In order to keep the bow from dropping out of the bow support, the archer must keep at least one hand on the bow at all times.
Lyon et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,103,807, discloses a bow holster which is similar to the bow support of Wallace except that it has been modified to support a compound bow. The apparatus has a leg strap, a larger holster or pocket to accept the end of a compound bow, and a support strap which attaches to the archer's belt. The device of Lyons also requires the archer to support the bow with one hand at all times.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,850,955 to Thomas D. Barr discloses a wearable bow holder of a different type. This device comprises a rigid U-shaped support with a large pouch affixed to the curved portion thereof. The free ends of the support are strapped to the archer's thigh, so that when the archer is in the seated position the pouch is open and extends the length of the archer's lower leg. A J-hook is provided on the bottom of the pouch to engage the archer's boot laces. The seated archer then places his bow in the pouch, which is large enough to accept one-third of the length of the bow. This design has the advantage of being able to support the bow while freeing up the archer's hands, but it has several disadvantages as well. First, this bow holder is only operational when the archer is seated; when the archer stands, the pouch collapses around his ankle and is no longer usable. The second problem is that the depth of the pouch makes it difficult to extract the bow quickly as the archer must lift the bow approximately two feet in order to clear the pouch. This movement may startle the game and an allow it time to escape before the archer can loose an arrow.
It is apparent that there remains a need for an archery bow holder that is wearable, allows the archer freedom to use his hands for other purposes, will accept either a recurve or compound bow, is useable in either the sitting or standing position, and allows the bow to be withdrawn from the holder with little movement or effort. Heretofore there has not been an archery bow holder available with the advantages and features of the present invention.